Sad Clown
by silentskulls
Summary: Valentine, in an attempt to visit Helena again, ends up fighting with her over something ridiculous. But she has a bit of a secret, and it just makes him angrier. But it really shouldn't.


Valentine knew how Helena felt about coming to visit; it wasn't always easy to get a full-night's sleep, especially when the circus was getting so popular. It was already hard, but now it just got harder. However, they promised that tonight they would meet. He got a bit more dressed up then normal, because this was a special moment for him. They hadn't seen each other for a good week, save for the few times that she would unexpectedly drop by and say a few words to him before leaving again. So he chose a nice shirt, but it was still an odd red color. He put on the big, feathery hat that she always loved and walked out the door with a skip in his step. He was so darn pleased that he bought a couple of ice-cream cones for the two of them.

And so he sat on the bench that they said they'd meet at with one delicious looking ice-cream in one hand and another delicious looking ice-cream in the other. He had gotten her cookie dough, which she continued to tell him was her favorite. He remembered this simply because he refused to let himself forget. Now it came in handy, he supposed, that he liked to store random information about her in his mind.

She came walking around the corner in a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt. He perked up at once, running towards her and handing her the wrong ice-cream. She stared at it with an odd look on her face. It almost looked upset.

"Oh, goodness, how stupid of me!" And at once he handed her the correct ice-cream. She took it and smiled, though it didn't look like her whole emotion was put into it.

"Thanks," she said, licking it slightly.

"It's cookie dough," he said, cupping her chin and patting her lips with his thumb.

"Your favorite, right?" A true smile began to show in her eyes.

"How'd you know?" One eyebrow raised above the other in obvious suspicion. He knew he sometimes seemed like a stalker, but it's not like he ever had anything to do anyway. He just liked learning about her and her without-a-mask face, that was all. He was simply _curious_.

"You told me." She smiled, biting into it. He wondered how she could do that without freezing her mouth. He smiled back at her and posed heroically in front of her in an attempt to realize how nicely he had dressed. She smiled as she licked off a rather big lump of ice-cream. She flicked the feather on his hat and chuckled slightly.

"Nice hat." His smile widened.

"Thanks. I knew you'd like it," he said, obviously not catching the slight sarcasm in her voice. Her smile began to die down a bit as she licked off more ice-cream. "So, is there anywhere you wanna go?" She looked at the ground and stopped licking her treat. His smile disappeared, and with it his entire face turned to absolute concern. "What's wrong? You look so upset." She looked up at him with an apologetic face.

"I-I don't think I'm hungry," she said, still holding the ice-cream in her hand. He shrugged and took it from her hand.

"That's alright!" He smiled again and lowered his shoulders. "I'll just hold it till your hungry again." She looked sincerely unhappy, and now he continued to smile in his attempt to cheer her up. "Heeeeey," he said in a low, playful voice. "Don't be so upset. It's alright! I don't care that I spent three dollars on an ice-cream you don't want. I should've thought you'd eat before you came. That's so like you, after all."

"That's not why I'm not hungry, Valentine," she said, her hands in her back pockets. She looked at him with large, rueful eyes. It was at this point that he noticed that she was wearing something on her lips that made them a bit darker and shinier, along with a touch of black paint around her eyes. She finally began to put on the kind of makeup that he kept telling her about. However, this was no time to be proud; she looked very serious. "I've lost my appetite over something, and it's a stupid something, but I really wanted to come and tell you about it." He probably lifted an eyebrow at this point, but it's not like she could tell. Slowly, his carefree attitude began to change to a bit more serious.

"… What's wrong?" he asked quietly. She sighed deeply and glared hard at long at the ground before holding his gaze again.

"I can't keep seeing you, Valentine." He was silent. She took it as a sign to continue. "I have a life! It—It's _foolish_ to keep coming back. It preoccupies me and it makes me get bad grades in school and it makes my family suspicious."

"Then don't leave." She looked stunned. "If it's stupid to keep coming back, then don't. Just stay here and you won't _have _to come back because you'll already be here!" She shook her head and sighed.

"It's not that easy," she said quietly. He tipped his head in an obvious gesture of questioning. "I have a family, friends, a school… I can't just give up on that." Valentine was quiet for a moment. Finally, he gave her with a look so hard that, even though she couldn't see his expression, she felt his gaze burning into her and it made her shift uncomfortably.

"How _old _are you? You make it seem like you're so old, like everything except relationships is important! Next thing I know you'll be sayin' you've got a boyfriend!"

"I _do_!" she exclaimed, and at once she hated herself for letting the angry retort slip out. She stopped where she was and stared at him, her face, which was moments ago furious, now shocked and confused. He didn't move as he stared at her, seemingly frozen in the same position as when he'd stopped speaking, which was a bit of an awkward, bent-over position with his arms spread out while still holding the ice-cream cones. Slowly, she drooped her head and put her hands in her pockets again. He regained a neutral position and watched her. "I've had a boyfriend for a few weeks, Valentine." At once he scoffed.

"_What_? So you've been coming to me and acting like this so I could be an… an entertainer? A _clown_? Well, are you entertained now, girly?"

"No! But this is a ridiculous thing to get so—"

"Let the show begin!" he screamed, tossing his arms out so fast that the melting ice-cream flung off the cones. He tossed the two cones onto the ground with an exasperated grunt. "I'm so entertaining! I'm just a little clown for the little girl! We can all live together in our little world with our little friends!"

"Valentine, it's not like that! Stop acting so outrageous!" He glared at her.

"_Me _stop acting outrageous? _You're _the one who's been acting outrageous!" She shrunk back slightly; she couldn't argue. Staring at him with large eyes and a quivering lip, she shook her head and began sucking her bottom lip.

"You so immature," she whispered. He stared at her, his mouth ajar. If he didn't

know any better, he would've said that her eyes were watering with tears. "You're just so _infuriating _sometimes, Valentine. You didn't even give me a chance to explain _anything_!"

"You don't need to explain," he said, much calmer than she had expected. The quietness and sincerity of his voice shot through her like venom, going straight to her heart and causing it to skip a beat from surprise. She didn't know what to say or what to do as he waved her away dismissively. "I'm just… disappointed. I was so excited to see you again, and you come to me with such… such _weird _news." She walked swiftly over to him and slapped him hard across the face. He let out a restrained groan of pain and looked at her. She was smiling. "_Ow_! Why are you smiling? That wasn't funny!" he exclaimed, flinging his arms around over his head. "That hurt! Such a small girl with such a hard temper and an even harder slap!" She chuckled slightly and covered her face with her hand.

"Valentine, I'm sorry, but you were getting so despairing just now. I had to do something to break you from it. It wasn't like you." He glared at her and stuck his tongue out.

"Since when did _you_ care?"

"Since forever." His head jumped back slightly in surprise. "… You still haven't figured it out yet, have you?" He frowned.

"Figured what out yet?" She chuckled and looked to the ground for a moment before looking back at him, her hands now slipping into her back pockets.

"I was seeing how you'd react. I don't really have very many friends, and my parents are normal to my weird sleeping pattern. And besides, I'm home schooled. With your weird knowledge about me—" she gave him a weird expression here, "—I'd have expected you to know that." Even through the layers of beige and red paint on his face, she could see a bit of blush underneath.

"T-Then who's your boyfriend?" She poked his shoulder.

"_You_, dummy!" At once, he grabbed her under her arms and lifted her off the ground in a hug. It was a smothering hug, especially considering that her face was covered in his shoulder. He let out a deep, relieved sigh, hugging her tighter. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and lifted her legs a bit. He didn't want to let her go, and she didn't want to be let go as it was, but his arms weren't exactly the strongest things on his body and she was put gently down. She smiled at him and blew the feather on his hat, hitting it playfully. "That's still a funny hat."


End file.
